Holder for candles and the like.



H. B. S. TEAGUE.

HOLDER FOR CANDLES AND THE LIKE.-

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22, 1916.

Patented Oct 2, 1917.

.Zhveniow HORACE B. S. TEAGUE, OF I/IEJLROSE HIGHLANDS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR EDWARD MILLERK: COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

Application filed December 22, 1916.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known'that I, Honncn B. S. TEAGUE, a citizen of the United Melrose Highlands, in the county of Middlesex and State. of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improve; ments in Holders for Candles and the like,

of which the following is a specification.

'This invention relates to holders or socketsfor candles, electric light bulbs and other sources of light which are intended or adapted to be supported by a candle-stick having a recess into which the holder is re movably inserted. It is a matter of common experience that the recesses provided in candle-sticks for the reception. of such holders do not conform in their dimensions to any recognized standard, whether the candlesticks are made of glass or of metal, but vary considerably in different candle-sticks and are frequently irregular in contour in a given candle-stick, particularly when made of glass. In consequence of this fact the holders have been provided with various devices, usually depending for their elliciency upon spring action, for the purpose of adapting them to recesses of different dimensions, but such devices are unsatisfactory on account of the liability of the holder to tip even to fall out of it if the spring holding devices become bent accidentally or if they are purposely bent in order to make them fit a given recess, as is frequently necessary. My invention is intended to overcome the objections to prior holders of the character above referred to by the provision of simple and durable means whereby the holder may be inserted into a candle-stick or other support having a recess of any given dimensions, within the usual limits, and firmly held in the desired position with relation to the candle-stick.

A holder embodying my invention as preferably constructed is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the holder connected to a candle-stick Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the detached holder; and I Fig. 3 is a section on the line 00-92 in Fig. 2. looking upward.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, 2 indicates the 5 Specification of Letters Batent.

States, residing at with respect to the candle-stick or' HOLDER FOR oAnfnLEs AND THE LIKE.

serial No. 13s;3'02.--

upper portion of a candle-stick provided with a recess 3 extending downwardly from its top, and l indicates the lower portionof a holder which may be a candle-rtaceh ing socket, ora: socket for anelectric light bulb, or any other sort of holder adapted to'carry Patented Oct. 2, 1917} a source of light. \Vith the exception of the parts hereinafter described, the particular construction of the holder is immaterial to the present invention, andthe candle-stick 2 may also be made of any desired material and design.- 1

5' indicates astem extending downward from the bottom of the holder a and shown as externally threaded throughout its length and carrying a nut 6, the upper end of the stem being screwed into the'lower end of the holder 4: and preferablyheld immovable therein by means vofa transverse pin 7. On the upper portion of the stem 5 is mounted a; collar 8 which can rotate freely thereon andpreferably has the form of a thin, fiat disk extending laterally beyond the bottom of the holder land adapted to rest on the top; ofthecandle-stick 2. Between this collar 8 and the nut 6 is located a softrubber plug 9 which ispreferably circular in cross-section, in conformity with the recesses commonly provided in candle-sticks, and is centrally perforated to receive the stem 5 loosely.

The upper and lower ends of the plug 9 are in engagement with the collar 8 and nut 6 respectively, frictional engagement being sufiicient, and these parts are given such dimensions that when the plu is in its normal condition it and the nut beneath it can be inserted freely into and withdrawn from the recess 3. After said plug has been inserted into the recess the holder can be firmly connected to the candle-stick by pressing the collar 8 against the top of the candle-stick 2 and holding these parts immovable with one hand, and then rotating the stem 5 in the proper direction with the other hand, using the holder 4 as a handle. The result of doing this is that the engagement of the plug 9 with the collar 8 and nut 6 causes said nut to be held against rotation and to be screwed upward on the stem 5 by the rotation of the latter within it, whereby the plug is compressed in an endwise direction between the nut and the collar and hence is caused to bulge outwardly and grip the surrounding wall of the recess 3, as shown in Fig. 1, whatever the diameter of the recess may be. During the lateral expansion of the plug 9, the holder and candlestick are maintained in accurate alinement by the collar 8 bearing upon the top of the candle-stick, and the final result is that the parts are secured together in the desired relationso firmly that there'is no possibility of their accidental separation or. of the tipping of the holder with respect to the candlestick, To separate the holder from the candle-stick it is merely necessary to rotate the holder in thereverse direction, whereupon the nut 6 is-held stationary in the manner alreadyv described and thestem unscrewed, from the nut, thereby relieving the plug'9 from endwise pressure and permitting it tocontract circumferentially" to its normal condition, shown in F igs/2 and 3.

An advantageous feature of the construction above described is'its simplicity, result ing from the I act that the compressible plug serves thet'wo purposes of gripping the Wall of the recess in the candle-stick and of preventing the rotation of the its-location and the nature of the holder itself is inaccessible for direct engagement. It will beevident that the nut 6 and collar 8 might be forced toward each other by screwing the holder LdoWIlward on the upper end of the stem 5, the nut 6 remaining immovable, but in such case the unscrewing of the holder might'have the result of detaching it from the stem, and therefore it is desirable to secure the stem-permanently to the Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for 5 is partially nut, which from holder. The details of-construction may be otherwise modified in variousways without departing from my invention,'a-nd it'will be obvious that the plug and its associated to'be inserted into a recess, a freely-rotatable collar concentric with said stem and in engagement with the outer end of the plug, and means carried by the inner end of the stem and engaging the inner end of the plug for compressing the latter against the collar.-

7 2. In a device of the character described, the combination of end, a freely-rotatable collar mounted on said stem and adapted to extend laterally overand bear upon the top of a candlestick or the like, and a, plug of compressible and elastic material mounted on said stem between the collar and the nut,-in engagement with both, and having a normal diam-* eter not less than that of the nut. v

Signed at Boston, Mass, this 20th day of December, 1916.

' HORACE B. S .:TEAGU'E.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

a holder provided with a: threaded stem carrying a nut on its outer 

